According to FPPC chair Dan Schnur, these new regulations are “becoming necessary as politicians increasingly announce their candidacies and major campaign policies through Twitter, YouTube, and a host of other social networking sites.”
I disagree. To be successful at modern online communications, campaigns need to engage in open, conversational dialogue. If they fail to do this, their online efforts will fail. If they do it right — they’re successful because they’re open and honest. No government regulation needed.
Further, just how do you force disclosure in a 140-character tweet?
The recommendations include requiring tweets and text to link to a website that includes the full disclosures,
Forcing campaigns to add “disclosure hashtags” or extra links to their tweets doesn’t protect voters. In fact, it limits those campaigns who are doing it right (you only have 140 characters to write a tweet, and any new hashtag or link requirement limits that speech.)
In short — new government regulation isn’t needed, it won’t work, and it limits free speech.
Unfortunately, similar attempts at regulation online political speech may be coming to a state near you. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, federal campaign watchdogs regulate only paid political advertising. As such, other states are now considering whether their disclosure laws are sufficient to cover modern communications.
A new wave of limits on online political speech? No, thank you.